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Graham Breckinridge
Graham Breckinridge (June 12, 3424 - March 30, 3509) was a Dranish politician of the libertarian Rally for the Republic, as whose Chairman he formerly served. He is the son of former Prime Minister Julia Breckinridge. Life and Career He was born in 3424 in Iglesia Mayor as the son of Julia Breckinridge, then-freshman MP and up-and-coming GNP politician, and her husband Paul, a lawyer. After graduating from school in 3442, when his mother had just become GNP leader, he proceeded to studying economics at the prestigious First Private Dranian University, which is considered an academic stronghold of right-wing thought. Nevertheless, he did not get involved into politics as early as his mother and instead studied for eight years and, upon obtaining his PhD, became a lecturer, researcher and author of several studies on economic issues. Political Career In 3470, he was first elected to Parliament on an RFR ticket, the party his mother had just founded as successor to the ailing GNP. He was then promoted to the position of fiscal critic. He consequently advocated fiscal conservatism, lower spending and low taxes as his political agenda. In 3473, he sought to succeed his mother as RFR chairperson, but was defeated in the leadership election by former Interior Minister Lawrence Steele. After his defeat, he became deputy leader and remained fiscal spokesman for five years before he was finally elected as Chairman following Steele's resignation after a period of electoral stagnation. Despite initial efforts to building an alliance with the conservative forces, Breckinridge soon clashed with the DCP when his brother Timothy was ousted as its leader and Rafael Duvalle was installed. Nevertheless, he first allied with them to prevent the passing of a WD proposed bill that would greatly increase state control over religious communities. While Duvalle heavily lobbied against, he stated: "As a faithful Hosian, but even more as a libertarian, I condemn the heinous attempt of nationalizing the faith of the people. Religious communities are voluntary associations of like-minded people, which is an inherently libertarian idea. Wherever abuse of this natural right occurs, the law is prepared to step in, but letting faceless bureaucrats and vicious politicians determine the course of autonomous religious institutions is certainly not the way this can be achieved." However, in 3480, he announced his presidential bid aimed at defeating Duvalle, who he slammed for portraying himself as "(...)a stabilizing factor and de facto Prime Minister, when he is de jure only a representative official who should preside rather than govern." The campaign evolved into a debate on political style, with Breckinridge pledging to act policy-neutral as President, unlike Duvalle, who during his first term frequently commented on parliamentary issues. The election, however, was unsuccessful - Duvalle was elected, and Breckinridge failed to make it beyond the first round. Constance Woodhall called upon him to resign, but he declined to do so despite his party's similarly poor performance. He also rejected Woodhall's proposal of co-operating more closely with the WD. However, when it became clear that early elections had to be held once again in 3481, he once again launched a bid to unseat Duvalle. This time, the contest became much more fierce after the sitting President had issued inflammatory statements on libertarianism in general, following which Breckinridge responded venomously: "Duvalle has proven that he is not a 'One-Nation-Conservative' - he is neither a conservative nor someone who can unite the country. He is a populist, a reckless populist who will stop at nothing if it only ensures him re-election, and he is railing against libertarians and homosexuals as if they were sub-human. This man does not deserve to represent Dranland on state visits, this man does not deserve to address Parliament on national holidays, and this man does not deserve to deliver new year's addresses in front of our beloved flag. The sole place where he deserves to be is the sulphurous place Hosios has reserved for people like him. Therefore, I want to ask the sane forces in Parliament - real conservatives, liberals, centrists, social democrats - to endorse me in my bid to unseat the madman in the Presidential Palace, so that we can save our country from division and mutual distrust. He is the man of the past, he is the heir to Salazar, he is the devil's advocate clad in a conservative robe - he must not be allowed to serve as our President any longer." Although he managed to trounce Duvalle and win over 25% in the first round, he lost the runoff to Ragnar Solfjord of the WD. Nevertheless, the 47% he won were considered a sufficient success to let him continue as party leader. In the ensuing tenure, Breckinridge left parliamentary fighting mostly to his deputies, including Troy Overton, former Justice Minister, and economic spokesman Eric Wainwright. However, he spoke out strongly against several measures of the conservative government including attempts to bar women and gays from serving in the military. Under his leadership, the RFR managed to convince Parliament to scrap art subsidies altogether after the Education Minister had withdrawn funding from an allegedly blasphemic exhibition. When the offices of President and Prime Minister were merged into one and a snap poll was held after the constitutional reform had passed, Breckinridge advised the RFR to endorse the candidate of the left-liberal Retsforbundet ®, Lucas Manon, who was finally elected. As the liberal and libertarian parties won a majority in Parliament, Breckinridge went on to become Vice President and Minister of Finance in an R-led administration. As Finance Minister, he managed to eliminate the deficit without tax increases by compromising with R over exempting certain departments such as ecology from cuts. As VP, he kept a rather low-profile, but spoke out clearly when radical Dranianos attacked the Kyo-dominated Gongmangdo University, saying that "freedom of knowledge and freedom of research are essential components of freedom of speech and expression" and "(...)any protests targeting these institutions are assaults on the Republic itself, and the very values it is based on." In September 3489, after his government had abolished most socially conservative laws and also liberalized the economy significantly, Breckinridge was up for re-election alongside President Manon, however Rafael Duvalle (DCP) once again prevailed, and the conservatives won a majority. He would then disappear from frontbench politics for more than 20 years, before he became Speaker of Parliament after he had won a parliamentary vote against the opposition nominee, who was his former ally Manon. In that position, he did not intervene all too often, but was occasionally accused of a bias against parties of the far-left. Breckinridge died in March 3509 after a series of strokes. RFR Chairman Masuhiro Ozawa said on behalf of the party: "We are saddened by this massive loss, as Mr Breckinridge was not only one of the main architects of the strength our party enjoys today, but was also a fine human being whose intellect and astuteness re-invigorated the libertarian movement after the transition from GNP to RFR." Category:RFR politicians Category:Dranian people